Key events
Josh Hazlewood is at the top of his mark with Aiden Markram on strike. Here we go …
The wind is blowing hard across Cazalys Stadium which should please Australia’s quicks including Josh Hazlewood, Ben Dwarshuis and Nathan Ellis who each impressed in the T20 series.
Openers Aiden Markram and Ryan Rickelton are also heading to the crease with the former especially in need of runs after scoring only 31 in three knocks while leading South Africa in the T20 series.
Australia will play this ODI in the shadow of former captain and coach Bob Simpson who was critical to turning the side’s fortunes around alongside Allan Border after a lean patch through the 1980s.
Simpson died aged 89 after also playing 62 Tests for Australia over more than two decades. Mike Selvey has written in depth about one of the greats of Australian cricket.
South Africa XI
Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton (wk), Temba Bavuma (c), Matthew Breetzke, Tristan Stubbs, Dewald Brevis, Wiaan Mulder, Keshav Maharaj, Prenelan Subrayen, Nandre Burger, Lungi Ngidi.
Dewald Brevis is named for his ODI debut with Prenelan Subrayen also playing his first 50-over international as South Africa go with two spinners.
Australia XI
Mitch Marsh (c), Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis (wk), Alex Carey, Aaron Hardie, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood.
Marnus Labuschagne returns to the lineup hoping that white-ball runs might press his claims for a place in the Ashes squad, while Alex Carey comes in as a specialist batter.
Australia win the toss and elect to field
South Africa captain Temba Bavuma calls “heads” but tails comes up. Mitch Marsh has a huge call to make but for the 21st time as Australia captain he says, “just thought I’d change it up and say that we’ll have a bowl first”.
The Australia captain explains that the decision is based on more than just habit. “The wicket looks a touch drier than the other night but we saw that the dew plays a part so that’s the main reason why,” Marsh adds.
Bavuma admits that he would have liked to bat first, but is happier to announce that Dewald Brevis will make his ODI debut. “He’s the star of the show at the moment, it would be nice if he could carry on with his heroics in the ODI format,” the Proteas skipper says.
Dewald Brevis is expected to make his ODI debut for South Africa today – after smashing 125 not out and 53 in the last couple of T20s against Australia. The Proteas could do with Brevis’s power hitting after their bowling stocks suffered a huge blow when Kagiso Rabada was ruled out of the ODI series.
Squad Update
Proteas Men’s fast bowler Kagiso Rabada has been ruled out of the three-match One-Day International (ODI) series against Australia due to inflammation of his right ankle.
The 30-year-old underwent a scan on Monday, which confirmed the extent of the injury. He… pic.twitter.com/8SYrKWMgHz
— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) August 19, 2025
The toss will be coming up in about five minutes – but it seems we can easily predict which way it will go if Mitch Marsh gets to decide whether Australia will bat or bowl first.
Australia’s middle-order maverick Tim David and South Africa’s rising star Dewald Brevis lit up the T20s in Darwin, but it was left to a more familiar name in Glenn Maxwell to steer the hosts home with one ball to spare in the decider held in Cairns.
Preamble
Martin Pegan
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the first one-day international between Australia and South Africa at Cazalys Stadium. The focus turns to three matches in the 50-over format after a gripping T20 series over the past couple of weeks that included some powerful hitting in Darwin then went into a decider held in Cairns.
Glenn Maxwell was the hero with the bat as Australia clinched a T20 series victory last Saturday night, though the white-ball great will be missing from this group of games after retiring from ODIs with the next World Cup still two years away.
There are a number of other changes to each squad as the teams give opportunities to fresh talent and aim to find the right mix and formula for the longer term. Australia’s designated ODI captain Pat Cummins is unavailable with Mitch Marsh again set to take the reins, while Temba Bavuma will lead South Africa just as he did when the sides met in the World Test Championship final a couple of months ago.
The teams should be more familiar with the conditions in Cairns after playing at the same venue three days ago, while they will head to Mackay for the remaining two games in the ODI series to be played on Friday and Sunday. The forecast is for sunny skies all afternoon and a high of 25C before it barely cools for the second stanza.
First ball will be at 2.30pm local time / AEST. The toss and team news will be coming up shortly. Meanwhile, let us know your thoughts and predictions – shoot me an email or find me @martinpegan on Bluesky or X. Let’s get into it!
